Type of service: Advocacy (general)

Offers Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA) as specified in the Mental Capacity Act. .

Many staff can make assessments about whether to refer to an IMCA using the following questions. A person is assessed as lacking the ability to make a decision, and needing an IMCA, if they cannot do one or more of the following: .

• Understand information given to them about the decision.
• Retain the information for long enough to make the decision.
• Use or weigh up the information as part of the decision making process.
• Communicate their decision (by any means, e.g. talking, sign language or blinking).

The assessment must be specific to the decision which needs to be made, for example, not a generic test of capacity. Whether and how such assessments are recorded may vary according to the seriousness of the decision made. You can make a referral to our Cambridgeshire IMCA service by contacting our dedicated IMCA line. A referral form can be found on the IMCA section of VoiceAbility (www.voiceability.org) .

Aimed at: Adolescent , Adult

Other specialisms: Learning disability, Mental capacity, Mental health